Less than three months before Mayor Gavin Newsom will introduce his proposed budget for The City, Supervisor Chris Daly introduced an ordinance Tuesday that would authorize a $28 million budget supplement to fund what he is calling a "housing package.""This is an item that is appropriate at this time for this board to consider," Daly said. "Yes, it is a large dollar amount on the face of it, but it is not significant compared to the struggles that working families face." Read More

While the number of homicides dropped in 2006 compared to 2005, other violent crimes increased, according to statistics released Monday by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.As 2006 drew to a close, Mayor Gavin Newsom and police Chief Heather Fong highlighted the fact that San Francisco had made progress in reducing the homicide rate — with 85 homicides last year and 96 in 2005 — as cities nationwide experienced spikes in homicides. Read More

More than a thousand people crowd San Francisco’s popular pier at Aquatic Park to watch the Blue Angels roar overhead during Fleet Week, or ooh and ah over the Fourth of July fireworks. But the pier has deteriorated so much that it will now be off-limits during these big events, according to the National Park Service. Read More

San Francisco could become the nation’s first city to ban the use of plastic checkout bags by large grocery stores and chain stores with pharmacies, in the latest of several recent City Hall moves aimed at protecting the environment.The proposed legislation that would ban plastic checkout bags comes among a host of other initiatives, including an easier permitting process to install solar panels, a proposed ban on toxic children’s toys, and a ban on Styrofoam and other polystyrene foam. Read More

Large businesses on Tuesday were granted a six-month extension to comply with spending requirements for worker health care as part of The City’s groundbreaking program to provide health care access for San Francisco’s estimated 82,000 uninsured adults.The City is expected to implement the so-called Healthcare Security Ordinance on July 1 when it launches the new Health Access Program. The ordinance was authored by Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Mayor Gavin Newsom. Read More

Plans to create a massive rental-unit development on Market Street — a vision shared by a pro-tenant supervisor and a major landlord — continue to find resistance at City Hall.After a proposal to transform the so-called Trinity Plaza site at Eighth and Market streets into a 1,900-unit rental development was met with opposition nearly two years ago, Supervisor Chris Daly, whose district includes the Trinity Plaza site, was able to broker a deal with developer Angelo Sangiacomo. Read More

The City’s Adult Probation Department has gotten even worse since a blistering audit nearly seven years ago, with high-risk probationers continuing to go unmonitored, according to its new chief.The department, which monitors adult criminal offenders placed on probation and assists in their rehabilitation, remains plagued by a poorly maintained computer system, lack of management and failure to keep an accurate tally on how many probationers are living in San Francisco, according to Jeanne Woodford, who has served as the head of adult probation for the last four months. Read More